After debating on a couple of far flung vacations we finally settled on… wait for it… a little trip to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA followed by a jaunt to Vienna, GA for a quick visit with the Ketual Mama clan (those pics to follow). That’s right, after working through some scenarios that involved one or more planes, foriegn or domestic car arrangements, and last minute lodging, we gave up and decided to try something closer to home.
Much to my surprise it was a hit. Callaway allowed us to get rooms right by the hotel pool (big win) and there was a ton to do right outside the door. We visited the vegetable garden (PapPap would have loved it – Aaric and Kier definately did), the butterfly center, the pool (of course), and the raptor show (cause who doesn’t love a hawk brushing past your shoulder!).
While in Pine Mountain we decided to check out the local Animal Safari – yep, a drive through animal park. We were absolutely sure that Aaric would love it – he had of course fed a giraffe at the zoo before and smiled about it. WRONG… well kind of. He spent the first 5 minutes of the trip in the the backseat of our rented zebra painted junk van (courtesy of the attraction) with me in a headlock as his human shield. He begged, BEGGED, us to leave and we were sure that we would have to race through the 5 mile? loop with barely enough time to toss our $40 dollars of animal chow out the window. Luckily, a move to the drivers seat did the trick. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience from the safety of Robb’s lap (and behind the only remaining (but not working) window in the car. Kieran on the other hand was fighting to lick all of the animals (licking being his only MO in life right now). He finally settled for trying the animal chow, which he found to be less then satisfactory. It was a hot, sweaty and somewhat dirty south GA experience but I highly recommend it.
